Family of girl, 13, forced to go to court to seek abortion after being ‘raped by father’s colleague’

DUBAI: The family of a 13-year-old girl, who claims she was raped by her father’s colleague, has had to endure a court battle for their daughter to be allowed to terminate her pregnancy.
Her pregnancy was only discovered after her parents sought medical treatment for her, thinking she was obese and now 30 weeks pregnant, the Mumbai girl needs the permission of the Supreme Court to undergo an abortion, as Indian law only allows terminations after 20 weeks when the mother’s life is in danger.
The alleged rapist has been arrested.
Dr. Nikhil Datar, Mumbai-based gynecologist told the BBC: “(The girl’s parents) suspected she had a thyroid problem or some other medical condition because she was gaining weight… The scan showed that she was 27 weeks pregnant so I informed the police.”
The doctor recommended the abortion because the girl’s pelvis is not fully developed and giving birth would cause her “physical and mental trauma.”
This is the second such case in India in the last two months. A 10-year-old girl, who was repeatedly raped by her uncle, gave birth to a child earlier this month.
In that case India’s Supreme Court rejected pleas for an abortion because it was deemed to not be in the interest “of the child or the live fetus.”
The baby was delivered by C-section according to local reports, the girl unaware that she was about to have a baby, but instead told she needed surgery to remove a stone from her stomach.
The 10-year-old’s father has requested the child be put up for adoption.
Her parents discovered she was pregnant when she said she had stomach pains.
She later told her mother that she had been raped by her maternal uncle six times when he visited their home.
In her case the Chief Justice J S Khehar-headed bench rejected the girl’s plea that she faced a “grave threat” to her life.

US reviews report of imports from forced labor in China camp

The US is reviewing reports of forced labor at a Chinese detention camp where ethnic minorities must give up their religion and language

Following reports, the US said that it had suspended business with the Chinese supplier and was investigating.

Updated 25 min 7 sec ago

AP

December 19, 2018 00:00

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BEIJING: The US government said Tuesday that it is reviewing reports of forced labor at a Chinese detention camp where ethnic minorities must give up their religion and language and may be subject to political indoctrination.
US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that reporting by The Associated Press and other media “for the first time appears to link the internment camps identified in Western China to the importation of goods produced by forced labor by a US company.”
The AP tracked shipments from a factory in a detention camp in China’s Xinjiang region to Badger Sportswear in North Carolina. The company ships clothing to universities, colleges and schools around the United States.
Following the reports, Badger said that it had suspended business with the Chinese supplier and was investigating.
The Washington-based Workers Rights Consortium, which has agreements with many educational institutions to make sure the products they sell on campus are ethically manufactured, said that “forced labor of any kind is a severe violation of university codes of conduct.”
It’s against US law to import products of forced labor. Customs and Border Protection said it is part of its mission to enforce “both laws to protect individuals from forced labor and our Nation’s economy from businesses profiting from this form of modern slavery.”